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7 - Huawei’s Internationalization Journey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2020

Xiaobo Wu ,
Johann Peter Murmann ,
Can Huang  and
Bin Guo
By
Wen (Helena) Li ,
Xiaoran Chang  and
Bin Guo
Xiaobo Wu
Affiliation:
Zhejiang University, China
Johann Peter Murmann
Affiliation:
Universität St Gallen, Switzerland
Can Huang
Affiliation:
Zhejiang University, China
Bin Guo
Affiliation:
Zhejiang University, China
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Summary

Internationalization plays an important role in Huawei’s transformation from a fledgling Chinese start-up to a powerful multinational company. Huawei’s internationalization is characterized by repeated failures, difficult struggles and unceasing learning by doing. In this chapter, we divide the whole internationalization process of Huawei into three stages based on the different challenges at each stage. They are (1) overcoming the liability of foreignness, (2) managing complexity to achieve synergy from a global perspective, and (3) changing from a latecomer mindset to that of a global leader. For each stage, we summarize and discuss how Huawei adopts routinization and de-routinization strategies to efficiently overcome different challenges. The managerial implications derived from Huawei’s internationalization will be useful for other multinational firms.

Keywords

HuaweiManagement TransformationInternationalizationLiability of foreignnessManaging complexityRoutinesManaging DiversityInclusiveness
Type
Chapter
Information
The Management Transformation of Huawei
From Humble Beginnings to Global Leadership
 , pp. 244 - 291
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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References

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